Sluggish economic growth in China doesn't seem to have slowed down the country's online retailers, many of which continue to set new records in terms of sales and turnover thanks to their innovative tactics.

Take, for instance, the emergence of Singles' Day as an online shopping holiday. It wasn't that long ago that this day was nothing more than a joke on the number of ones which occur in the date November 11 (also written as "11-11"). Now this day is synonymous with online shopping in the minds of many Chinese, largely because of the savvy efforts of the country's many e-tailers. In fact, Tmall recorded over 1 billion yuan ($160.1 million) in sales in the first 30 minutes alone of Singles' Day.

The country's brick-and-mortar retailers, many of which are just limping along as the economy decelerates, could learn a valuable lesson from their online rivals. It's possible to turn a profit when times are lean if you can find new ways to engage shoppers.

The author is Deng Haijian, a media personality.